Opera union seeks injunction

Opera sings at City Council

The labor union that represents singers and chorus members at the San Diego Opera is asking a federal agency to get an injunction freezing the company’s assets so that union members with contracts can be paid.

The move by the American Guild of Musical Artists came on the same day that a group trying to keep the San Diego Opera alive lobbied the City Council on Tuesday to help join the fight.

“We’ve calculated that the total economic loss to the community of the closure of this company would be close to $7 million,” said Nic Reveles, the opera’s director for education and outreach.

Reveles is part of a group of employees, union members, vendors and supporters trying to persuade the opera board to reverse a March 19 decision to permanently close the opera on April 29 after 49 years.

While that effort moves forward, the labor union representing singers with contracts to perform for the opera sent a letter late Monday to the National Labor Relations Board seeking the injunction. The letter cited a portion of labor law that allows the agency to go into federal court and ask a judge for an injunction to protect contractual rights of workers.

The union has filed two unfair labor practices against the opera, demanding payment on existing contracts and bargaining over the effects of the pending shutdown. Hope Singer, the lawyer for the union, said the move is to prevent the opera selling off assets and leaving no money for singers who have inked contracts to perform in future years. At least 25 singers have contracts that could cumulatively be worth close to $1 million, she said.

“We want an order to essentially freeze their funds to cover any liabilities they have under the collective bargaining agreement with AGMA,” she said.

Opera management did not respond for more than two weeks to requests from the union for information relating to the closure and the company’s intention to honor contracts. On Tuesday Singer said she finally received four pages in response: the board resolution closing the opera, a copy of the two-page press release announcing the closure and a singe page summarizing cash flow for the organization.

Some members of the opera board have requested financial records and other documents since last month’s vote, indicating they’re open to changing course.

But board President Karen Cohn said in a March 30 U-T San Diego opinion piece that the decision to close was unavoidable. She said it was the result of “dwindling financial support” and “an irrefutable decline in appetite for grand opera in San Diego.”

That position was disputed by Carlos Cota, business agent for a union representing opera workers. Calling the board’s decision “incomprehensible,” Cota told council members Tuesday that the opera hasn’t run a deficit in nearly three decades.

“It makes no sense to us,” he said.

Reveles said the closure would mean little to no opera anywhere in the county.

“We need our arts to make this city great,” he said.

The council can’t reverse the board’s decision because the opera is an independent nonprofit, but Council President Todd Gloria said he planned to meet with members of the White Knights in coming days.

A group of roughly 50 singers from the opera performed a song for the council from “The Masked Ball,” an opera they performed in March.